Rich Rodriguez Shares What Made Pat White Special at WVU

West Virginia University football head coach Rich Rodriguez looks back on the character and composure that helped make White a WVU legend.

West Virginia University head coach Rich Rodriguez | Christopher Hall – West Virginia on SI

Former West Virginia quarterback Pat White will have his No. 5 retired Saturday before the Mountaineers’ season opener against Coastal Carolina.

Nearly 18 seasons after White last suited up for the Mountaineers, head coach Rich Rodriguez reflected on his former quarterback finally receiving one of the program’s highest honors.

“It’s a great honor,” he said. “You think about, that's one of the greatest honors any athlete could ever have at a university. You've done so well there that they wanted to retire your number forever, and not just as an athlete, but how you meant to the program. Everybody who gets their number retired probably made an indelible impact on that program for decades. And that's what Patrick did.

“I mean, he made an impact while he was here, of course, but he made an impact where people are still talking about it, you know, 20 years later. They're still talking about what he did and what his teammates did.

“So that's the neat part about me to watch it, because I know what kind of person he was. And he was always about—he was always to that day, and to this day, he was always about the team first and what do I need to do to have West Virginia have success?

“So, I'm really proud of him.”

White propelled Rodriguez’s offense and the Mountaineers back onto the national stage. It began with a three-overtime comeback win against Louisville as a redshirt freshman. After entering the game for an injured Adam Bednarik, White helped spark a five-game winning streak to earn a berth to the Sugar Bowl to play against Georgia.

Rodriguez has plenty of memories from his three seasons with White, but one stood out when asked to reflect on their time together: moments before the 2006 Sugar Bowl.

“I can remember the Sugar Bowl, and it was playing the SEC and playing Georgia. Pat was a redshirt freshman. Stevie was a true freshman. We had a lot of young guys, and throughout the week I was a little nervous, like, okay, now the game was moved to like a home game for Georgia, and they got all this SEC guy stuff, and they got experience and all that kind of stuff.

“I can remember during practice that week it was almost uncanny how dialed in the guys were. I don't know if they made a single mental mistake all week. And I remember even the day of the game, I was like a lot more nervous than Pat was.

“I can remember going, ‘Pat, you ready?’ And he could tell I was a little nervous. He's like, ‘Coach, we're good.’ I mean, he was just as calm as can be. Couldn't wait to get out there. There was no anxiety whatsoever, and he played lights out. So, it was kind of like, this guy's a redshirt freshman playing in this big arena, and he kind of calmed my nerves down a little bit, going out there and doing what he does.”

West Virginia jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the second quarter before holding on for a 38-35 victory, the first of four consecutive bowl wins for White and the Mountaineers. White remains the only quarterback to start and win four bowl games, earning MVP honors in three of them - another piece of the legacy that will be cemented Saturday when his No. 5 takes its place among the WVU greats.